Rob Ford keeps plan for $50M in cuts a secret as no consensus in sight for budget

On the eve of the last budget session for this term of council, consensus still seemed elusive, as various property tax numbers floated around the corridors of city hall — including a long shot 0% — while the mayor made house calls at problem apartment buildings.

At about 4 p.m., Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly strode to a wooden lectern to announce he will be recommending an “affordable” and “balanced” budget that relies on a 2.23% property tax increase, including a Scarborough subway levy.

No sooner had he stepped away, Councillor David Shiner took the microphone to proclaim that the city can actually freeze taxes, and not affect service.

Add to that a push by Councillor Josh Matlow to scrap the subway levy and put a pause on the project, and sparks are sure to fly when council convenes on Wednesday.

Mayor Rob Ford, meanwhile, continued to keep his plan for $50-million in savings secret, returning to his councillor playbook of proposing 11th hour changes without lining up the support.

In the past, it didn’t matter if his proposals were ever adopted, because that worked out in his favour, too.

“He’s doing what Rob Ford has done, and what propelled him into the mayor’s office,” said Councillor Peter Milczyn.

True to form, Mayor Ford predicted taxpayers were about to be “robbed blind” and has declared it the “worst budget ever.” The difference between his desired 1.75% hike and the deputy mayor’s proposal is on average $12 a year on the tax bill.

“The taxpayers want me to save money but the councillors want to spend it,” he claimed after touring a building on Lynvalley Crescent in Scarborough. “There’s very few fiscally responsible councillors down there, it’s been proven over and over again.”

The executive committee recommended a $9.6-billion operating budget that kept the property tax hike at 1.75%, including the subway levy. It did so by counting on more money from the land transfer tax than finance staff say is safe to predict, thus creating an unbalanced budget. The deputy mayor wants to fix the discrepancy by raising the tax hike to 2.23%, including the 0.5% subway levy.

When a provincially mandated tax shift is factored in, the deputy mayor’s proposal means a 2.71% hike for the average homeowner.

‘We do have some add-ons we want to do, we need to be building our city, not decimating our city’

TTC chair Karen Stintz, who is running for mayor, says she is on board with the higher tax hike after Mr. Kelly agreed to support a $3-million addition to the TTC subsidy.

When asked about his chances, however, all Mr. Kelly would say is he is “optimistic.”

Budget Chief Frank Di Giorgio says he plans to still back the 1.75% hike approved by the executive committee. Councillor David Shiner drafted that proposal, arguing that the city is charging residents for services it isn’t providing because it has more than 2,600 vacancies in its workforce. On Tuesday, he went even further, claiming the city can actually freeze taxes without affecting service because of those vacancies. But he just came up with the idea on Tuesday, and does not know what his colleagues think.

“There have been so many numbers going around right now, we’ll see what happens tomorrow,” said Councillor Sarah Doucette. “We do have some add-ons we want to do, we need to be building our city, not decimating our city.”

Another sticking point may be the Scarborough subway levy. Some of those who opposed the project want to see the levy stripped out of the budget or perhaps used to replenish the extreme weather reserves. Others are balking at the prospect of delaying a transit project again.

“I was opposed to the original decision because we were getting a free LRT versus a subway which is going to add significantly to raising taxes. But I will not support bringing everything to a crashing halt and not doing anything,” said Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong.